Effects of Korean Medicine Treatment at Public Health Center for Post-acute COVID-19 Patients: A Retrospective Case-series of 11 patients

Article information

J Korean Med. 2023;44(2):132-148

doi : https://doi.org/10.13048/jkm.23021

Chang-hwan Yu ¹

, Kwan-Il Kim ²

, Hee-Jae Jung ²

, Beom-joon Lee ²^,

¹Daeso Branch office of Eumseong Public Health Center, Eumseong-gun, Republic of Korea

²Division of Allergy, Immune and Respiratory System, Dept. of Internal Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Correspondence to: Beom-joon Lee, Division of Allergy, Immune and Respiratory System, Dept. of Internal Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, Tel: +82-2-958-9146, Fax: +82-2-3457-9001, E-mail: franchisjun@naver.com

Received 2023 April 19; Revised 2023 May 3; Accepted 2023 May 10.

Abstract

Objectives

The purpose of this study is to determine the clinical features of post-acute COVID-19 syndrome and the effectiveness and safety of Korean medicine treatment at the Public health center.

Methods

The study was conducted among 11 patients with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome who attended a single public health center from January to December 2022. We retrospectively analyzed the charts of 11 patients and collected clinical characteristics, previous treatments, Korean medicine treatments, outcome variables (Numeral Rating Scale (NRS), Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ), Visual Analog Scale (VAS)), adverse events, etc.

Results

Of the 11 patients, six were women, and the average age of all patients was 68.27±12.31 years. The most common symptom were cough(n=9, 81.82%) and sore throat(n=9, 81.82%), followed by sputum, fatigue, rhinorrhea, and loss of appetite, etc. All 11 patients were treated with herbal medicine, with Samso-eum(n=6, 54.55%), Yeonkyopaedok-san(n=5, 45.45%), and Haengso-tang(n=3, 27.27%) being the most commonly used. After herbal medicine treatment, the median cough NRS decreased from 5 to 1, and the median sore throat NRS decreased from 4 to 1, both of which were statistically significant. One patient reported adverse event of dyspepsia and heartburn, but it was mild.

Conclusions

The study presented the clinical features of the post-acute COVID-19 syndrome and suggested that Korean medicine treatment at public health centers may be effective and safe in alleviating associated symptoms.

Keywords: Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome; Long COVID; Korean medicine; Herbal medicine; Public Health Center

Supplementary Information

Supplement 1jkm-44-2-132-Supplementary-1.pdf

Fig. 1

Flow chart for subjects selection

Fig. 2

Frequency of Herbal Medicine Prescriptions

SSE; Samso-eum, YKPDS; Yeonkyopaedok-san, HST; Haengso-tang, SCKBT; Samchulkunbi-tang, SMS; Saengmaek-san, BJIGT; Bojungikgi-tang, BHSST; Banhasasim-tang

Fig. 3

Change of Symptom NRS Before and After Treatments.

a) Cough(n=7) The median pre-treatment NRS is 5 with an interquartile range (IQR) of 2.00, and the median post-treatment NRS is 1 with an IQR of 2.00, b) Sore throat(n=7) The median pre-treatment NRS is 4 with an IQR of 2.50, and the median post-treatment NRS is 1 with an IQR of 1.50

p-value: Wilcoxon signed rank test

* p < 0.05

Table 1

Case Summary of Eleven Patients

Table 2

Frequency of the Symptoms in Patients

Table 3

Numeral Rating Scale(NRS) Change of Patients symptoms(Others)

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